Govt banks on rural fund to finance loan waiver

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 16

The Punjab Cabinet today approved two crucial amendments to the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987, and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to enable the state government to extend the benefit of the crop loan waiver scheme to the distressed farmers.

This has given the government an option to raise loan to fund the Rs9,500-crore crop loan waiver scheme.

Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said Section 7 of the Punjab Rural Development Act and Sections 26 and 28 of the APMC Act would enable the Punjab Mandi Board and Rural Development Board to raise loans against the receipt of the rural development fund.

Farmers to get ‘right of way’ for laying irrigation pipes

chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet today gave its nod to an amendment to the existing law to grant “right of way” to farmers to lay underground irrigation pipelines through the land of their neighbours.

A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh approved Section 14-A in Chapter III in the Punjab Land Improvement Schemes Act, 1963.

A spokesperson said the amendment would allow farmers to get compensation for crop or structural damage. Land owners did not allow underground pipeline through their land depriving farmers having land located on the other side of irrigation facilities.

Farmers with a single source of irrigation and fragmented agricultural land holdings were the worst affected. Absence of legal rights on this count was also holding up several major government-funded projects, he said.

A committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, calculated the compensation to be paid to the land holder, he said. —TNS